Ssukh is just dukh for the viewer!

Kirti Ahuja's Hatya helped build Govinda's career way back in 1988. But their newest film together, Ssukh, looks like the last straw for Govinda's career.

The actor has found an alternative career in politics and maybe he should stick to it. Besides, he should seriously concentrate on reducing his weight, or else stop doing the hero's roles because it doesn't suit him anymore.

Ssukh is supposed to be a family entertainer. But watching it was so painful that it should be renamed to Dukh. Only I know what it was like to sit through the whole movie.

And sit through I had to. We reviewers have to stomach the whole film, no matter how terrible. The very opening frames of the film tell you you're in for a pathetic experience.

Chunkey Pandey, who we saw in D a few weeks ago with such a controlled performance, is loud here. He yells all his dialogues.

And Govinda used to be a good performer. In the past, he managed to make the worst films work well. But in this film, he's performed horribly.

I read in an interview that Govinda is making films to perform in the roles he likes. But if these are the films he wants to do, God help him.

Preeti Jhangiani performs as though she is acting in a daily soap. I hate to see these self-proclaimed 'ultra-modern' girls trying to do a behenji role. It just doesn't add up.

Songs are the worst parts of the movie. They simply exist to give Govinda a chance to dance. There are times when Govinda and Preeti hope to recreate the Dil To Pagal Hai magic. But this turns out to be the ugliest part of the movie, as Govinda falls from all graces as he tries to groove with a big paunch.

Apparently, the plot is lifted from a good Marathi movie. If so, it's been lifted badly. The story is about Chandra Prakash Sharma (Govinda) and Sushila (Preeti), a married couple who haven't spent a single night without each other. Don't worry, that's a peculiar fact you'll be constantly reminded of as the dialogue 'main apne patni ke bina ek raat bhi nahin soya' is repeated a million times.

Now, Sushila's best friend, Bhavna (Aarti Chhabria) isn't as lucky. She wants to get a divorce from her husband, Rakesh (Chunkey Pandey). Due to some strange situation, she is in line to receive Rs 10 crore only if she has good marital relations. So she goes to Sushila and asks for Chandra Prakash to pose as her husband.

But it doesn't work at all. Govinda, who is best known for his comic timing, falls flat in the attempted-comedy sequences.

When I watched this film, there weren't more than 10 people in the theatre. Hopefully, you won't add to that number.